Issue the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for Marine Cargo Handling Facilities  

Recommendation

The Department of Homeland Security must immediately issue the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), a uniform personal credential that vets the identity and background of individuals with access to cargo and secure areas of a marine cargo handling facility. National implementation of this important initiative will limit unnecessary vulnerabilities in a system that is otherwise being secured.

Legislative Requirement and Practical Need

The TWIC is an essential component of the maritime security regime authorized in the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA).1 This legislation created a comprehensive, national system of transportation security enhancements to protect our maritime community against the threat of terrorism, requiring federal agencies, ports, and vessel owners to take numerous steps to upgrade security. Significant progress has been made, based on a multi-layered approach that closes gaps and highlights potential breeches.

Under MTSA, marine cargo handling facility operators are required to submit facility security plans that designate "secure" areas of the facility, and accordingly must control the ability of vessels, vehicles and individuals to gain access. Yet the many critical steps taken to improve physical security — fencing, patrols, cargo screening — are insufficient without information about the individuals who have access to the system.

The background and criminal history of individuals seeking access must be checked to ensure that those who pose a terrorist or other security threat are not granted access. Implementation of the TWIC, a tamper-proof credential containing biometric information about its holder, is a crucial step; failure to do so constitutes a vital missing link in the chain of maritime security.

Current Safeguards

The commercial operations of a marine cargo handling facility generally necessitate designating the entire facility as a secure area due to the presence of critical transportation infrastructure, cargo, intermodal containers, and massive equipment, as recognized by the Coast Guard.2 Marine terminals are generally fluid environments in which longshore workers, motor carriers, and certain service providers must move about through different areas of the terminal as cargo functions warrant. As a result, the various individuals with legitimate business purposes for their presence on the facility require verification of their identity before access may be granted.

Currently, this verification is conducted according to stop-gap Coast Guard regulations, and is achieved through checking a photo-ID issued by a government entity, employer, union, or trade association. Obtaining such a photo-ID does not require a criminal history records check or check against relevant national security databases.

Implementing an Effective System

The system created to check personal backgrounds and criminal histories must be functional within existing marine cargo handling facility procedures so as not to disrupt the flow of commerce, and sufficiently trustworthy and uniform so as to ensure individual privacy and convenience. The Coalition for Secure Ports believes a model that satisfies each of these vital criteria must include:

Uniform national standards for issuance: The TWIC must supersede redundant credentials issued by various entities. Transportation workers often cross jurisdictions and would be subject to a wide variety of credentialing standards if one uniform federal standard is not adopted. Moreover, uniformity in the system will make it easier to detect fraudulent credentials, as well as ease the regulatory burden for those needing access.

Federal government performs background checks and issues the TWIC: A federally regulated TWIC program must not require marine cargo handling facility employers or their associations to vet employees or issue credentials because:

• Current maritime industry models that credential certain longshore workers do so under governmental mandate through programs implemented by a governmental entity. Any such credential is issued by the governmental authority. To do otherwise introduces the risk of serious security compromises.

• Serious security issues may arise if marine cargo handling facility employers, required to apply for TWICs themselves, are also the vetting or issuing authority; a governmental entity is best-suited to issue the credential.

Privacy assurances for applicants: Individuals must be responsible for obtaining their own credentials and ensuring that their employment screening and criminal history record check is accurate. TWIC applicants should also be responsible for fees required to perform the requisite checks, much as individuals must cover the costs of obtaining a drivers license.

Appeals process: A meaningful appeals process must be instituted for individuals denied a TWIC, which could lead to adverse employment consequences. This process should be a private matter between the applicant and the issuing authority, and should consider the potential for errors, mitigating circumstances, evidence of rehabilitation, etc.

It is imperative that a TWIC program based on this model be implemented as soon as possible to maximize the impact of the positive steps already taken to enhance maritime cargo security.

1 Pub. Law No. 107-295, 116 Stat. 2073 (herein cited as "MTSA").

2 33 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter H, Part § 105.260(b); 68 Fed. Reg. 60528.